Wednesday, December 9, 2015

When rainstorms come pouring through California each winter, think about this: Where is all that water going when it lands in your backyard? Here are some tips to protect your house, pool cover and prized outdoor plants located in low lying areas:

• Enjoy the rain...from indoors. Do as little as possible in the garden during a downpour. Working in wet soil causes compaction.

• Add gutter extensions to move water away from the house. These sections of flexible pipe allow you to divert water several feet away from plants that don't like wet feet. And, it may keep your house foundation drier, too.

• Get a submersible sump pumpto move water in a hurry from pool covers and planted areas that flood. Some models are water activated (they automatically come on when the water level rises an inch or so). Place the sump pump on a board to keep dirt from clogging the filtration screen.

• Dig a hole. A hole (also called a sump) that is dug in the lowest portion of your yard, a hole that penetrates through all the layers of hardpan (usually 2-4 feet below the surface), can help drain away storm water. Line the hole with a non-porous material (hard plastic sheeting, for example) to keep the surrounding dirt from falling back into the hole. Fill the hole with small rocks, about one inch in diameter.

• Construct an underground hard drain or a French drain (perforated drain pipe or gravel creek bed). If it's the lawn area that's flooding, dig a trench and lay a drain line in the lowest area of the lawn. Don't do any digging immediately after a heavy rain, though; wait until the soil dries enough to avoid unnecessary soil compaction. Be sure to slope the perforated drain pipe, allowing at least a one foot drop for each 100 feet of length (one quarter-inch per foot). Dig backwards from where the water will exit the pipe, trenching back towards the source of flooding to help determine how deep to lay the drain pipe. Line the trench with a few inches of gravel, both above and below the pipe. For a lawn area, try to lay the pipe at least two feet below the surface.

• If it's the garden bed that's flooding, consider building raised beds this fall, lining the bed with 2X8, 2X10 or 2X12 redwood planks. Capping off the top of these boards with 2X6 redwood will give you a comfortable place to sit while harvesting vegetables and pulling weeds.

• If you haven't planted in a flooded area yet, consider creating mounds first, planting trees and shrubs on the top of the mounds.

If you're still stuck with pools of standing water after heavy rains despite your best efforts, consider planting trees and shrubs that can take "wet feet". Water-tolerant trees for many areas of Northern and Central California include sweet gum, magnolia, and tupelo. Shrubs for wet areas include thuja and red twig dogwood.

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Frost, Freeze, Hard Freeze: Yes, they are all words that can make you shiver. But for gardeners, the preparation level in the yard goes from not stepping on the lawn in the morning (grass blades can break under your weight, even during a light frost) to madly rushing around the premises to protect plants, pets, and water lines when a hard freeze is forecast.

First, some widely accepted definitions of those terms:

Frost: temperatures dip to 32 °F (0 °C) for short periods of time. Occurs with fair skies and light winds.

Freeze: temperatures at or below 32 °F

Hard Freeze: temperatures below 28 °F for several hours.

In the Sacramento area, the typical frost/freeze season is from late November to early February. However, frosts have been recorded as early as the first week of November and as late as the last week of March.Here's a last
minute checklist for your home and garden if the TV weather people (or panicky bloggers) tell
you the morning low will be in the mid-20's, for several hours:• If it hasn't rained, water plants thoroughly, especially container plants.• If possible, move sensitive container plants next to a south or west facing wall.

Agribon Frost Cloth Protecting Meyer Lemon Tree

•
Cover citrus and other sensitive plants with burlap, row cover fabric (such as Agribon)
or sheets (be sure to keep the sheets dry). Tent plastic sheets over the
plants; don't let plastic touch plant leaves. A light bulb placed in
such a plant can offer a few degrees of protection. For best protection,
sheets should reach all the way to the ground around citrus trees and
other freeze-susceptible plants.•
If using an anti-transpirant polymer coating material such as Wilt-Pruf
or Cloud Cover, apply at the warmest time of the day, or at least six
hours before an expected frost. Read and follow all label directions. If using these products, thoroughly water the
plant before applying.• Disconnect hoses and drip lines, removing end caps. Lay out straight.• To prevent broken grass blades, don't walk on a frozen lawn.• Remove the lowest sprinkler head to drain.

Protect exposed pipes around wells and pumps

• Cover unprotected faucets and pipes, including any spa or pool equipment.

•
To prevent frozen attic pipes, let lukewarm water trickle out of the
indoor faucet farthest from the inlet. Also, let faucets with pipes
running along an outer, north facing wall trickle during the night. • Open cabinet doors to get more heat to the pipes. Close the garage door if water pipes pass through the garage.• Setting your thermostat nightly at 55 can add needed heat to the attic pipes.•
If leaving the house for a vacation during an expected freeze, turn off
the water to the house, and open up the faucet farthest from the inlet.
Be sure to turn off your water heater.• To prevent cracking tile, run your pool and spa equipment during the freezing hours. •
Don't forget about your pets during a prolonged freeze. Bring them
indoors at night. Move or replace their drinking water. Break up any
frozen water in bird baths.

• Cover the worm bin, too!

After a hard freeze, panicky gardeners should fight the urge to clean up the garden. The best strategies after a hard freeze? • Make sure all plants, especially container plants that are protected by overhangs, have been irrigated. Moist soil can protect the roots of suffering plants better than dry soil if more cold snaps hit. • Don't prune away any damaged portions of plants.If plants in your garden look blackened and wilted now, new growth may emanate from the base of the plant when the weather warms up in a couple of months.

Pruning away the dead portions now exposes buds that may still be alive; another frosty morning could wipe out those survivors.

The average frost season for Sacramento is about two months, primarily December and January. But temperatures below 32 have been recorded as early as the first week in November; as late as the third week in March.

So, keep the shears in the garage and let the dead portions of the plants protect the understory.

It may take until mid-Spring before you see new growth. Patience is key before you pick up the pruners. In the meantime, tolerate the ugly.

Make sure your garden and potted plants remain moist, especially if it isn't raining. Water gives off heat, and this can protect plants from freezing, especially borderline citrus trees, such as lemons and limes. Damp soil retains heat better than dry soil, protecting roots and warming the air near the soil.

Some of those dead plants may be summer annuals. Say goodbye to the tomatoes, impatiens, marigolds, squash, and others. Mornings hovering around 25 degrees can do that to these summer annuals. Put them in the compost pile; purchase and plant more in the spring, after all danger of frost.

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Fred Hoffman is the producer/host of the "KFBK Garden Show" on KFBK-Sacramento (1530-AM and 92.5-FM) each Sunday morning from
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., followed by "Get Growing" on Talk 650 KSTE, 10 a.m. to Noon.
Outside Northern California? Listen to the shows, live, via the KFBK.com and KSTE.com websites or as podcasts from those websites.